And a spokeswoman today said the force had received "lots of calls" overnight following press coverage of the search for the missing 34-year-old.

It comes after Ben’s family spoke on Tuesday afternoon of their fears that he might have got lost while trying to walk back from Cardiff city centre to his hotel near Cardiff Airport.

The process operator at Pembrokeshire gas plant South Hook LNG was last seen on Saturday evening in the Canton area of Cardiff having won tickets to watch the Wales v Ireland match at the Millennium Stadium.

His brother-in-law, Phil Coles, said: “He enjoys social events and it may be on this occasion that his enjoyment has gone to a point where his ability to make sense of the direction he was travelling [was impaired].”

On foot, the 10-mile journey would have taken Ben more than four hours to walk.

Ben’s wife of six years Jo, 38, renewed pleas for any city residents who think they may have seen Ben following the Six Nations opener to contact police.

“Please help me find my husband,” she said.

“I would ask anyone who saw Ben after 7pm on Saturday to please contact the police urgently.”

Residents are also being urged to look in their gardens, sheds, greenhouses and outbuildings in case the rugby fan used them for shelter.

Having attended Saturday’s game at the Millennium Stadium, Ben was seen by friends in Mill Lane at around 6.30pm.

He then left a queue for a city centre bar by himself and was last seen walking in the Canton area of the city around 45 minutes later.

Ben, from Haverfordwest, is around is 5ft 9in, has short black/brown hair, blue eyes and was last seen wearing a white shirt with thin blue stripes, blue jeans and brown boots.

Jo and her brother Phil were joined on Tuesday by around 30 of Ben’s family, friends and colleagues, who made the journey to Cardiff from Ben’s home town of Haverfordwest to help officers with the search.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference held near the last place her husband was seen, Jo said: “I would like to thank all of Ben’s friends and colleagues for their efforts in helping us to find Ben as well as all the officers involved in the investigation in South Wales Police.

“It just proves how loved he is by everyone who knows him. Ben is kind and loving – he is an exceptional friend which is why we have everyone here today looking for him.”

Phil said Ben has “some knowledge” of Cardiff having regularly travelled to the city for training courses and to watch rugby.

Yet he said he feared the cycling fan may still have got lost.

“Being late and on foot, he could easily have got confused,” he said.

Ben’s twin brother Marc said the hardest thing for the family is “not knowing anything”.

“What we think is that he was heading back to the hotel which is the Travelodge near Cardiff Airport. We think he’s tried to head back there by walking,” he said.

“Everybody is worried sick and is desperate to find him. We need to know he’s safe and he’s okay.”

Chief Inspector Eddie Ough, who is leading the investigation, said the force is still focusing its efforts in the Leckwith area and will continue to do so at least until Friday.

“We have now confirmed the last sighting at 7.17pm on Leckwith Road into Lawrenny Avenue [and] we are very anxious to have any further sightings after that,” he said.

“We are still conducting extensive searches in the Leckwith area and we intend to continue doing that for at least the next three days after which we will review the situation with the family but at the moment we still have a number of searches to conduct with specialist units including our underwater search teams and with horses, with dogs and with resources across the force.”

Anyone with information about where Ben could be should contact police on 029 2033 8465.